Should retired officers get $12,000 checks every December from the city pension funds?

Today, about 41,000 retired city police, fire and correction officers will receive $12,000 checks. These annual payments date to 1968, when the Lindsay administration invested some pension funds in the stock market and agreed to augment pensioners’ checks if returns were high enough. In the 1980s, the city guaranteed the lump-sum payments on the condition that any excess returns remained in the pension funds. The Dec. 15 checks will total about $500 million as taxpayers plow $8.6 billion—11% of the city budget—into the pension funds.

Should retired officers get a $12,000 payment every holiday season?

Yes. The payments are from a binding agreement negotiated by the city. A deal is a deal.

No. The unions gave up nothing for these bonuses. Their regular pensions are generous enough.

49 Responses

What you failed to report is that the city was about to go bankrupt and the police and fire pensions saved the city. You are better than that, Crain’s. Don’t leave out facts to spice up a story. The $12,000 per year per retiree is funded via those pension funds and the agreement made with the city at that time. If it weren’t for that agreement, the city would not be what it is today and thise voting against it, may not have been privy to their current holiday bonuses.

The description of the origin of these payments is as straightforward and matter-of-fact as could be, and 100% accurate. Click the links for details. And regarding some of the comments, please note that the city faced bankruptcy in the mid 1970s, not in 1968, when this agreement was made, or the 1980s, when it was amended. These two deals had nothing to do with the arrangements with the pension funds and NY state to stave off bankruptcy. The “yes” and “no” answers are options for voters to choose, not a position of Crain’s.
Erik Engquist, assistant managing editor

I suggest that you delve into this quite a bit more and look into the into the investment made during the Koch administration and the brokered deal that was conducted join order for the city to take a “Loan” in order to make investments….the article itself is misleading and deserves more than a few lines of explanation following hyped header.

This is just my opinion and Mr. John J. Miller, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism office should be contacted about articles that could potentially incite dissension, fear and irrational hatred. Any civil worker reading this should be on the phone with their union demanding and apology from this at best misleading and irresponsible article. Trying to ride the current wave of discorded is shameful. I could never read anything published by them as credible after this. ” Inquiring minds” should start thinking about fact checking.

4 COCCUSIONS,BROKEN BONES,DEAF,ALCHOLISM,DEPRESSION,WHILE YOU IN THE PRIVATE INDUSTRY MADE MORE MONEY THAN US,WE DID THESE JOBS KNOWING THAT SOMEDAY WE WOULD GET A PENSION.CORRECTION OFFICER DENNIS MCCORMACK RETIRED,AND DAMN PROUD OF IT.THANKYOU

Seems that Crain’s left the little piece about NYPD and other unions allowing the city during both the Lindsay term and Koch term use our pensions and VSF to bail the city out. Yet the NO poll says “No. The unions gave up nothing for these bonuses. Their regular pensions are generous enough.” How unethical and biased is CRAIN’s in publishing this erroneous piece of info? They talk so much trash that they can’t even get the FACTS straight!

Thank you for that information Sean. I retired 11 years ago. That Annuity saves me from financial despair EVERY year. Also the public does not know that it is subject to Cost of Living deductions and does not total $12,000 each year. To date I remember ever receiving a full $12,000.
But, I’d like too.

Crain’s appears to have conveniently omitted some very pertinent information. When NYC was facing extremely difficult fiscal times and bankruptcy was a very real possibility, the civil service unions used their pension funds to bail the city out. An agreement was struck and, dependent upon stock market performance, the Variable Supplement Fund (NOT Holiday Bonus!) was born. Crain’s skewed reporting is indicative of today’s brand of journalism that’s geared to incite rather than report. No, Terrance, they are not better than that.

As a NYC corrections officer, you give your life, blood, sweat and tears for the job. You give up precious family time, you miss your childrens school functions, holidays with loved ones that have since passed away; you put your life and health on the line (officers with cancer is at an all-time high). You risk the likelihood of being attacked by inmates. You work hard for 20 plus years, to keep food on the table and clothes on your childrens back.
Is 12,000 a lot of money? Yes, but it’s nothing compared to what I and so many fellow officers went through. We deserve 12,000 and then-some.

Feces, spit,verbal abuse, getting stuck almost every day.not enjoying your family on bitrthdays,holidays graduations etc…..the life of a New York city correction officer. In my opinion 12,000 is not enough!

Should retired officers get a $12,000 payment every holiday season? Most definitely $12,000.00 this isn’t money for thousands of officers who retired and found out somehow in their career they became contaminated with some form of blood disease requiring life time therapy , plus the medicine can be extremely high .
Just because it’s paid out during the Christmas holidays doesn’t mean it’s for Christmas presents , It should be changed to be distributed in June or July .

correction officer have In my opinion the hardest jobs in law in law enforcement
Their life expectancy of 5 years after they retire because all the stress they endure during their careers.
So YES they are in title to that money.

I agree whole heartedly William medina,
Yes we as correction officers certainly deserves our $12000.00. Because not only is our job dangerous, demanding and highly stressful, it produces the highest number PTSD than any other profession except maybe combat. This includes police,an and fire fighters. So yes we defanently deserve every Penny of that money.

The media strikes again. People tend to swallow
whatever they are told. Ignorance abounds and
the cycle perpetuates. Now, does the public really
believe that NY City just throws 12,000 bucks annually
to each uniformed retiree for the hell of it? Come on.
Use the brain that you were born with. Simple common
sense would tell you that the City must profit in some
way! And…they do! They reap a fortune from these pension
funds. People either simply dislike NY City’s uniformed
forces or they take whatever they see on the news at face
value. Please think and get the facts before jumping
to the wrong conclusions. Things are not always what
they appear to be.

You complain about an officer getting a 12k payout from their own pension fund while Wall Street traders get hundreds of millions in bonuses skimmed from what should be your profits? Open your eyes. This is just another example of big business pointing the finger at the little guy in the hopes that no one will point the finger at them.

Here we go, crain staff looking to make something about a job im certainly sure they would not be brave enough to take on…its we the people of all neighborhoods and all good quality whom gladly took on a job that was never gonna be appreciated by all of society as a whole..with remarks like..”u can keep that job”…”, that job stinks”…, why would you take that job it dangerous”..and so on and so forth.”..as previously stated we sacrificed holidays, & valuable time away from our loved ones in the name of being brave enough to say we will do our civic duty so that the people,, all people of the city of new York can rest & be assured that there are those of us who are willing to work closely with the criminal elements of this city while they are home tucked safely in bed with their children.
To all those reporters and people who say we the uniformed law enforcement comunnity dont deserve the VSF payment, please come and take on the job, and experience the sad things we hold in our hearts when we report to work on Christmas, Thankgiving, and our children asking why are we working today its Christmas. Its not comforting .all the while trying to stay professionally..yes we chose this career field and proud to have accepted it knowing that after 20 years of sacrifice the people of the city of new york and all people would say hey enjoy your retirement and thank you for your service to our city..but instead we receive criticism for money from a pension that not only did the city of people pay taxes on so did we so we are not getting a pension that we didnt pay for also…

I will say this, there is a group of people in congress
And politicians who receive full pay pensions once thay leave office.
For the rest of they’re lives….we recieve half after 20 years…plus 12000
To offset the cost of living as we get older in our lives
And with the hope that we stay healthy long enough to enjoy it..
I seem to think there is no respect for the people willng to take an oath to help the people of their
Community to make it a better place for one and all…just tired I am…
I will live my life proudly and enjoy some missed quality time with my beautiful family…

Yep… Just absolute garbage!
Just my opinion and Mr. John J. Miller, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism office should be contacted about articles that could potentially incite dissension, fear and irrational hatred. Any civil worker reading this should be on the phone with their union demanding and apology from this at best misleading and irresponsible article. Trying to ride the current wave of discorded is shameful. I could never read anything published by them as credible after this. ” Inquiring minds” should start thinking about fact checking.

Of coarse the VSF should continue. After working in all dangerous conditions all employees should get that perk. If anyone doesn’t agree to bad. They had the same opportunity to apply for one of those city positions the same as we did. And the public has no idea of the amount of taxes we have deducted. I pay more in taxes then some people make in a year.

They should continue to receive that benefit. Some have died in the line of duty. It’s very dangerous work that they do. No one in those 3 agencies mention in the above article is guaranteed to go home uninjured or in a box. They do the work that many others out there don’t want to do. They see things that they wish they didn’t see and the worst: How heavy the sadness is in their hearts when they couldn’t save someone’s life in time after they raced to the source of the 911 call. God bless all their bravery and selflessness. Instead, articles should be written about the hefty bonuses all over wall street with tax privileges.

Yes they do !!! What you failed to mention in the article is that the city owes them the money for the bail out , it is not a bonus, it is paying back borrowed Money. The government has bailed out failing companies, and still the CEO’s got the billion dollar BONUSES and no one say a thing, but the working class unions give the govn’t a loan and everyone has an opinion, they want to stop paying their debt. This could come in July, would that change how you look at it .

You forgot to mention the foolishness and recklessness of the Giuiiani and Bloomberg administrations to follow their fiduciary duty to properly fund the pensions. Many years, when market returns were above average, those administrations did not make any contributions to the pension funds. They would declare a ‘surplus’ instead. Common sense would tell you that not every year can be an above average year. Most Crain’s readers probably still contribute to their 401(k) or other retirement investments during the ‘sunny days’, because ‘rainy days’ are sure to follow. First responders continued to make regular contributions, each and every pay period, during those ‘sunny days’. Those contributions were part of their contracts, and those first responders honored those contracts. The City has some ‘wiggle room’ on the exact amount to contribute every year, but the two previous administrations chose, foolishly, to underfund the pensions. Had some of those ‘surpluses’ been invested in the pension funds, we would not be facing the problem we are facing today.

I have worked for the NYCDOC for 19 years, the last 11 as a Captain. Throughout my career I have experienced brutality among inmates and staff on levels I could not have ever imagined. I have experienced an inmate death firsthand and slashings that required sutures in the thousands I’m sure. I, like many have worked on New Years Eve, New Years’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Veteran’s Day, Independance Day, Election Day, you get the point. During that same time however, I have missed children’s birthday’s, graduations, anniverseries, funerals, and most importantly time with my family. All the while having to work double shifts in places and conditions most New Yorkers don’t care to know about. I am proud knowing that I am capable and built to do a job not many can do. The life expectancy of Correction staff is 5 years after retirement. $12,000 is a small price to pay in comparison to what is given up in our lifetime… I don’t hear people clamoring about politicians who serve one term in office and benefit for a lifetime with services suited for “real working people” or the Wall Street bankers who rob us blind and get a slap on the wrist. Pay up!

Whether they get it in December or July, it’s THEIR MONEY! They loaned that money to the city and the rest was a step on a rung each year until reaching the $12,500 – the city MADE billions on that deal! And those on LOD disability don’t get squat of it, even though they put money onto that fund every pay check.

What you should be asking is what or rather who is really benefitting from the money that is being invested. The amount you mentioned is crumbs compared to what is pocketed by the politicians and placed in their offshore bank accounts. Several other points I wanted to make have been stated in previous posts but as usual you are asking the wrong question just to incite a certain behavioral response from the public.

Just my opinion and Mr. John J. Miller, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism office should be contacted about articles that could potentially incite dissension, fear and irrational hatred. Any civil worker reading this should be on the phone with their union demanding and apology from this at best misleading and irresponsible article. Trying to ride the current wave of discorded is shameful. I could never read anything published by them as credible after this. ” Inquiring minds” should start thinking about fact checking.

Hi folks I just like to say that though I’m not included in all this that anytime a person puts their life on a job they deserve anything they get . I couldn’t be a fireman or a cop and definetly not a correction officer that has to be the most stressful job on earth. All day surrounded by prisoners never knowing if u cmg out the way u went in that’s crazy. But enough said as it stand from the private sector these agencies are underpaying those men and women . They have a short life expectancies get mentally abuse while us in Wall Street getadsive bonuses like the one I got this yr 50,000 for working in a office not bad .See the way I look at it nothing was mentioned when we where gettingillon dollar bonuse but now it’s change a we. Attack the civil servant while this economy flourishes and millionaires become billionaires I can’t lie I had the same oppurtunity to take those exams but didn’t my choice so I look at it like we put here getting a bargain for civil servants . That 12000 should’ve gone up been the same for 8 yrs now does anyone know how expensive life has gotten in 8 yrs that 12000 should now be atleast 20,000 u guys keep up the good work proud of u. Cause I can’t do it

Why is the question posed “Should retired officers get $12,000 checks every December from the city pension funds?” when that is not the case. I have been retired since 2011, this is the first one I received and was told that I will not likely I would receive another until 2019 and that is a maybe I was told. Also, if you think this 12,000.00 was a”holiday gift” it is not. Why not contact the correct authorities and publish the real reason why we received these instead of eluding to a fabrication that this was some undeserved gift?

Just my opinion and Mr. John J. Miller, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism office should be contacted about articles that could potentially incite dissension, fear and irrational hatred. Any civil worker reading this should be on the phone with their union demanding and apology from this at best misleading and irresponsible article. Trying to ride the current wave of discorded is shameful. I could never read anything published by them as credible after this. ” Inquiring minds” should start thinking about fact checking.

This “Variable Supplement Fund was bought & paid for by Police Union money – PERIOD!!! when the city was broke the money was given to the city in exchange for the VSF… then later it was changed to a defined benefit = $12,000 which in the middle of the night was reduced byt the pension COLA increases until a member reaches 62 years of age when it goes back up to $12,000… the cost is not one from the taxpayers but from a police funded cash contribution to NYC… PERIOD… whatever you call it VSF, Defined Benefit, Loan interest paid on money borrowed from the Police Unions, …. etc… go report on something else!

The CITY of NY wastes more money on these frivolous lawsuits everytime you turn around so why can’t people who help run the CITY of NY get a little extra money since we A) DON’T HAVE A CONTRACT and B) DON’T BRING HOME ENOUGH MONEY WHILE WE ARE WORKING SINCE THE CITY TAKES IT BACK IN TAXES!!!!

The vsf was an agreement the city and union made many years ago. When you have votes like this you need to inform the public all of the details. The vsf was a fund that was started between the city and union it was funded by the nypd union not the publics money our own money so educate before you talk crains

should all police fire and correction officers receive vsf. Yes. However. Mr seabrook sold out the officers who retired prior to July 1999 they aren’t afforded the wealth that correction officers now receive. All this because he didn’t want to start at less than 12000. I know if I had the chance and my fellow officers had the chance to vote. It might have been different

The pensions are generous enough!!!??? The retired officers WORKED to receive those pensions. They placed their lives on the line, sacrificed weddings, weekends and holidays with their families, school plays, braved the streets, the cold and the heat to serve a city and it’s people who have now thrown them under the bus. Explain to me how those pensions of “old timers” which are $15 thousand or less per year with absolutely NO raise except a small COLA is generous enough? Many retired officers NEED that VSF to keep afloat. Lastly, the police unions helped bail NYC out of bankruptcy using the officers pension funds. That VSF is EARNED through blood sweat and tears of the NYPD; it’s NOT an entitlement or handout from a “grateful” city!

I think they need not look into our pension and think about all the retired politicians that are getting full pay for life that is bankrupting everyone all over. We put in a lot of stressful and high risk time of our life why cant we be taken care of and we payed into our social security which is also now being question as if that is a bonus as well. We desire 12,000 and more each year I vote YES A THOUSAND TIMES

I guess Crain’sNY does not remember the days where you couldn’t walk in Times Square without getting mugged or seeing a hooker. Now you can’t pack enough revenue generating tourists into the place. How about the neighborhoods that saw property values sky rocket and become livable

The above was all accomplished by the hard work , blood and sweat of the men and women of the NYPD and DOC.

Besides the agreements that were made in the past, why doesn’t CrainsNY think that we don’t deserve it ?
When the stock market was on a roll , nobody complained about the bonuses given out by Wall Street

And how much money is spent on the lazies that don’t work for a living carrying coach bags and paying for beer and cigarettes with their EBT cards…How much is the city spending a year to house and feed criminals ?

If I’m correct the New York City Department of Correction received Defined Benefit partial payments in the years 2003 and 2004. After that there were no more payouts until this year. The payouts become permanent in the year 2019. The notion that we were receiving VSF benefits since the year 1968 is flawed at it’s core.

The vsf was contracted for NYC Corrections in December of 1999, it was all inclusive for all active working members in the uniform force as July 1st, 1999. All retired before that point was left out…. The benefit is to supplement uniform retirees and not active members…. What say of the workers who actually contributed to union pensions during those years throughout the 1970′s???? No one speaks on their behalf…. You have retirees who have not worked the uniform force as Corrections for the full 20 yrs. as requied ( their prior municipal job time was calculated so they were able to retire early)… EVEN THEY RECIEVE THE VSF***** I guess those retirees who actually contributed during this period is just #### out of luck….

They 100% deserve the $12,000 VSF as they paid into the system for it. What bothers me and I will never understand is why do those who were injured in the Line of Duty and forced to retire on a disability pension NOT receive this as well? Those officers paid into the system as well, they deserve the VSF also. If they were forced to retire prior to their 20 years of service then their portion of the VSF should be prorated to reflect the amount of years they served. penalizing someone for being injured after they paid into the system like everyone else doesn’t seem fair.